Peggy Guggenheim's Life and Legacy in Eight Images
A photographic exhibition highlights the journey of Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979), an American art collector and heiress. After losing her father in the Titanic disaster at the age of 20, she received an inheritance of $2.5 million, which prompted her to explore the world. In New York, she took a position at the Sunswise Turn bookstore and later married artist Laurence Vail in Paris in 1922. She formed friendships with notable artists such as Man Ray and Fernand Léger. During World War II, she returned to New York, prioritizing her collection over her safety, and assisted artists in escaping Europe. She opened Art of This Century, promoting Jackson Pollock, and exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1948. Settling in Venice, she donated her collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and passed away in 1979, leaving a legacy carried on by her grandchildren.
Key facts
- Peggy Guggenheim was born in New York in 1898 and died in Camposampiero in 1979.
- Her father died on the Titanic, leaving her a $2.5 million inheritance.
- She married Laurence Vail in Paris in 1922 and had two children, Sinbad and Pegeen.
- During WWII, she helped artists Max Ernst and André Breton escape Europe.
- She opened Art of This Century gallery in New York, supporting Jackson Pollock and Abstract Expressionists.
- In 1948, she exhibited her collection at the Venice Biennale in the Greek Pavilion.
- She donated her collection to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on condition it remain at Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.
- Her grandchildren Santiago Rumney Guggenheim and Karole Vail continue her legacy.
Entities
Artists
- Peggy Guggenheim
- Jackson Pollock
- Alexander Calder
- Yves Tanguy
- Laurence Vail
- Marcel Duchamp
- Man Ray
- Fernand Léger
- Max Ernst
- André Breton
- Joan Miró
- Jean Arp
- Vasily Kandinsky
- Georges Braque
- Antoine Pevsner
- Tancredi
- Bacci
- Santiago Rumney Guggenheim
- Karole Vail
- Pegeen Vail
- Sinbad Vail
- Rogi André
- Jean Cocteau
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Wolfgang Paalen
- Henry Moore
- Pablo Picasso
- Raymond Duchamp-Villon
- Kurt Schwitters
- Constantin Brancusi
- René Magritte
- Salvador Dalí
- Paul Klee
- Marc Chagall
- Mark Rothko
- Dorothea Tanning
- Romaine Brooks
- Djuna Barnes
- Natalie Barney
- John Farrar Holms
- Douglas Garman
- Howard Putzel
- Herbert Read
- Frederick Kiesler
- Edward Melcarth
- Mary Horgan Mowbray-Clarke
- John Frederick Mowbray-Clarke
- Madge Jenison
Institutions
- Fondazione Solomon R. Guggenheim
- Collezione Peggy Guggenheim
- Art of This Century
- IK LAB
- Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
- Sunswise Turn
- Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia
- Archivio CameraphotoEpoche
- Artribune
- Sunwise Turn
- Guggenheim Jeune
- Biennale di Venezia
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Paris
- France
- Venice
- Italy
- Camposampiero
- Marseille
- Switzerland
- Mexico
- Niagara Falls
- Greek Pavilion
- Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
- London
- United Kingdom
- Canal Grande
- Manhattan